Ex-Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn Joins Blockchain Startup

The blockchain space became a little stronger today as former Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn announced that he had joined the advisory board of distributed ledger technology (DLT) startup Spring Labs.

Former Trump Advisor Joins Blockchain Startup

In addition to his former position at Goldman Sachs, Cohn also worked in the White House as President Trump‘s top economic aides. Cohn left his position as director of the National Economic Council back in March of this year when he could not agree to President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariff plans.

Fintech startup Spring Labs is currently working on a blockchain solution to decentralize identity and credit information. Their solution aims to be more secure and efficient than current centralized options, such as Equifax.

Everyone remembers the great Equifax hack that happened last September, impacting roughly 143 million U.S. customers. This hack was possible due to a centralized point of failure. Blockchain’s decentralization means that there is no single point of failure. Would-be attackers must penetrate many sources for a hack even to be possible.

Cohn told MarketWatch that he sees the potential that blockchain will add to solving this problem, stating: “[It’s] an obvious place to take a very, very analog industry and digitize it,” also calling Spring Labs a “unique opportunity.”

Cohn Not a Fan of Bitcoin

Cohn was interested in blockchain technology back when he worked in the White House, explaining that he has since evaluated many opportunities. Cohn likes the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrency but, as CCN reported, is not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

“I have been very interested in blockchain technology for a number of years, and Spring Labs is developing a network that could have profound implications for the financial services sector, among others,” explained Cohn.

Although Cohn does not support bitcoin and other individual cryptocurrencies, he did say that “we all know all the inefficiencies of the existing currency world and blockchain clearly helps to eliminate them at some point in the future.”

Cohn will join Spring Labs’ as a member of their board of advisors. Other notable advisors for Spring Labs include former TransUnion executive Bobby Mehta and Coinbase chief legal officer Brian Brooks.